Simple Tuel
Veritas Super Omnia
Matthew Tuel - 01/02/2026
This is a quick review of day 1 of "The Bible Recap" by Tara-Leigh Cobble.
I could only stomach the first day. There's enough issues here for me to confidently write off the rest of it. Here's a rundown of the issues I took with it.
In the opening paragraph, she states that "Genesis is a book of the law; it's not a science book or a history book, though it does tell us a lot about history."
It is a history book, (and something of a science book too) unless you are a liberal theologian and reject the literal six day creation. She points out that some people believe in what's called the 'Day Age' theory (non-literal six days) and some people believe in the literal six day creation account. She ends the opening paragraph with the following line: "What’s clear in Scripture is that God is the Creator; none of this was an accident."
What is also clear in scripture, and especially the first chapter of Genesis, is that God created the earth in six literal days. To the best of my knowledge, this was the Church's understanding and interpretation of this passage throughout history until Darwin came along and proposed the theory of evolution.
You can read more on this topic in the following articles:
Here's the 'God Shot' (summarization of the day's teaching) in full:
God is our Creator and the Lord over everything, but despite His lordship and His perfection, He’s merciful toward the sinners He’s in relationship with. He said they’d die if they ate of the fruit, but He lets them live! He doesn’t strike them down on the spot. Any time we see God hedge on His promises, it’s always on the side of mercy. He doesn’t break promises; He exceeds them. We see it again in 3:9–10, when they’re hiding from Him and lying to Him. Before they even repent, He pursues them out of His great love. At the height of their sin, He continues to show them both mercy and discipline. It’s such a gift to them and to us that He doesn’t give up on pursuing us, because He’s where the joy is!
This is a complete misunderstanding (at best, a twisting at worst) of the account of the Fall in Genesis.
1. God's mercy is not in spite of his perfection.
This is an egregious take in my view: "…despite His lordship and His perfection, He’s merciful toward the sinners He’s in relationship with."
God is perfect. God is the standard of holiness and righteousness. God is wholly good. As such, God's mercy is not in competition with His justice, which is exactly what the author is insinuating here. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross did not override or remove the Father's requirement for justice, it fulfilled it.
Even though the author says "He doesn't break His promises" that's exactly what she's describing.
2. God is faithful to all of His promises.
God's decree to Adam was the following:
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 16 Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Ge 2:15–17). Thomas Nelson.
God did not say "You will immediately die." He said "you will surely die." The distinction here is important. The NET footnote for verse 17 explains it this way:
The Hebrew text (“dying you will die”) does not refer to two aspects of death (“dying spiritually, you will then die physically”). The construction simply emphasizes the certainty of death, however it is defined. Death is essentially separation. To die physically means separation from the land of the living, but not extinction. To die spiritually means to be separated from God. Both occur with sin, although the physical alienation is more gradual than instant, and the spiritual is immediate, although the effects of it continue the separation.
Additionally in Romans 5, we see the following:
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned—
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Ro 5:12–13). Thomas Nelson.
Adam died spiritually that day, and eventually he died a physical death as well. God was faithful to His promise that Adam would die if he ate the forbidden fruit.
3. God does not change.
For this point, I will let Scripture speak for itself:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Nu 23:19). Thomas Nelson.
6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Mal 3:6). Thomas Nelson.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Heb 13:8). Thomas Nelson.
You can read more about his topic here: https://www.gotquestions.org/God-change-mind.html
4. Jesus' sacrifice is God's mercy.
15 And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Ge 3:15). Thomas Nelson.
This verse is what is referred to as the 'protoevangelion', or 'The First Gospel.' The mercy seen here is not that God didn't immediately strike Adam and Eve with physical death, but that he foretold of how He would redeem mankind through His own Son. God upheld His promise that should Adam sin, he would die. God then gave this new promise, that He would redeem mankind through Jesus.
1st Timothy 2:9-15 and Titus 2:3-5 speak of what women who women are supposed to teach (other women) and what they are supposed to teach. You can read more on this topic here: https://knowingscripture.com/articles/godly-women-dont-teach-or-exercise-authority-over-men-1-timothy-2-9-15
She says as much in the introduction, so this is not an insult but a confirmation. I myself hold no academic credentials in the realm of theology, but I also don't claim to be a Bible teacher as she does.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Jas 3:1). Thomas Nelson.
We are not suffering from a lack of solid materials to aid in the study of Scripture. One (particularly one that is Southern Baptist) only needs to venture beyond Lifeway to find these resources.
Paul gives us a warning on false teaching in the letter to the Galatians:
9 A little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise!
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Ga 5:9). Thomas Nelson.
As well as the first letter to the Corinthians:
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough?
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, 1 Co 5:6). Thomas Nelson.
Paul also gives us this exhortation in the book of Hebrews:
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever! 9 Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings.
Biblical Studies Press. (2019). The NET Bible (Second Edition, Heb 13:8–9). Thomas Nelson.
I think what I've read in the first chapter is enough to consider this a loaf with too much leaven in it.